Kathy Cheek selected as UMA Manager of the Year

Photograph of Kathy Cheek

Kathryn A. (Kathy) Cheek , assistant to the chair for resource management in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, received the 2007 University Managers Association (UMA) Manager of the Year Award on May 22 during the UMA’s quarterly meeting at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.

The annual award honors a manager for a specific accomplishment of major significance within the past year, as well as for his or her overall university career accomplishments. All permanent full-time university managers with two or more years of service, whether or not they are members of UMA, are eligible for the award.

Peggy Leatt, PhD, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Administration, nominated Cheek in tribute to the excellent service she provides to faculty, staff and students. Leatt said that Cheek is an outstanding team player and excellent supervisor, is extremely knowledgeable about university policies and procedures, and always has been conscientious about everything she does.

This year, Cheek received special recognition for willingly and effectively assuming tasks beyond the scope of her responsibilities. “The School of Public Health had to address a series of complex financial issues, and there had been a number of turnovers in senior management positions,” said Leatt. “At points in time, Kathy was educating people in senior positions about how the university financial systems work.”

George Pink, PhD, associate professor of health policy and administration, said that Cheek is the most competent university manager he has encountered in the 20 years he has spent in academia.

“She has helped with the many details facing a new faculty member and generally helped me smoothly adjust to my new job,” said Pink. “Since then, I have been amazed at the depth of Kathy’s knowledge. Time and again, I have been in situations where complex problems were solved solely by her administrative expertise.”

Cheek anticipates and addresses people’s needs before they even know they need something, added Laurel Files, PhD, also an associate professor in the department. “She nurtures staff, paying attention to their professional development at the University, not simply to their roles in the department,” she said.

Established in 1983, the UMA provides a forum for the exchange of information relevant to university managers, to encourage productive interaction among members and to be a voice of change in issues of widespread importance. The organization instituted its Manager of the Year Award in 1992.

Cheek, who has been a member of UMA since 2000, said that receiving the award makes her even more committed to doing the best job she possibly can. “I have ‘managed’ for quite a number of years, and it has not always been a positive and rewarding experience,” she said. “But being appreciated by faculty and staff in my department, as well as by UMA, certainly emphasizes the positive aspects of being a department manager.”

School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, (919) 966-7467, ramona_dubose@unc.edu.